The company is even partnered with US Airways to allow passengers to use Dividend Miles in exchange for a roundtrip ride to space. The price? 10 million air miles or about $100,000 cash.

A study by Futron Corp., a space consulting firm in Bethesda, Md., determined that, by 2021, suborbital space tourism could bring in $700 million a year in revenue by flying 15,000 passengers who have the means and the desire to go.

Some other nice things to know:
When the United States launched its first astronaut into space, it chose the exact altitude that SpaceShipOne is heading toward: 62 miles above Earth, an even 100 kilometers. It is high enough above the atmosphere to be out of its grasp and high enough to see the planet as an orb set in space.
Shepard's spacecraft, Freedom 7, did not have a window. When he launched, on May 5, 1961, space ship one has

yea.... i expect to see a huge jump in public interest and knowledge the day ss1 launches. anyone want to take bets on how many new members we have here or hits we have on the blog? personally, i'd guess 25 new users, 1000 hits, i hope that's too low, but unless there are good links, i doubt it'll be higher.